$2 MILLION IN CASH, POT FOUND AFTER TIJUANA EXPLOSION

Two burned, under guard at hospital after fire at home

TIJUANA 
An explosion and fire at a house in eastern Tijuana has led to the seizure of an estimated $2 million in U.S. currency and dozens of packages of marijuana.

Two adults who suffered severe burns in the Tuesday night incident remained under guard at a hospital, according to a statement Wednesday by Tijuana municipal police. Five minors in the home at the time were unharmed, said Gen. Gilberto Landeros, commander of Baja California’s Second Military Zone.

“The assumption is that the money comes from some kind of operation linked to organized crime,” said Alberto Capella, Tijuana’s public safety secretary, who called the seizure “historic” for the municipal police department.

Baja California’s Public Safety Secretariat reported that one suspect was the niece of Raydel López Uriarte, known as “El Muletas,” a drug trafficker connected to the Sinaloa cartel who was captured in February 2010 in Baja California Sur.

After firefighters were called to the scene to put out Tuesday’s fire, Tijuana municipal police discovered the cash inside a vehicle on the premises that had a double bottom.

Capella said authorities had counted $1.8 million by noon, but that the total could reach close to $2 million. The exact quantity of marijuana found on the premises was not known Wednesday, Capella said. The cash and drugs were turned over to Mexico’s federal Attorney General’s Office to ensure transparency in the counting, he added.

Authorities did not specify the cause of the explosion and fire.

A series of large seizures of U.S. currency in Baja California in recent years has been linked to criminal organizations operating in the area. Drug traffickers use cash generated by U.S. drug sales to purchase weapons and pay operating costs. This week’s seizure comes nearly a year after authorities confiscated $15.3 million in Tijuana said to belong to the Sinaloa cartel.